Springfield casino selection process revealed by Mayor Domenic Sarno

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayCezar M Froelich, chairman of Shegsky & Froelich Law Firm, legal consultant on the selection of a casino for Springfield, right, speaks during a press conference at City Hall as Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, left, looks on. The city announced its proposed selection process for a destination casino resort project.

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James J. Murren, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Resorts International, said his first meeting with Mayor Domenic Sarno Monday was used to tout his company’s vision and enthusiasm for locating a casino in the South End.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his advisers estimated it would take eight months to select and negotiate an agreement for the best possible casino in Springfield, followed by a binding ballot vote planned in the spring of one or more selected sites.

A planned two-phase selection process was revealed Monday during a press conference at City Hall. The announcement immediately followed individual, closed-door meetings between Sarno, his top advisers, and the four known national companies competing for the Springfield casino project.

Sarno said he’d like to have construction begin in 2014, if the local casino is approved by voters and the state, and did not rule out letting voters consider more than one site.

City officials said that based on information provided thus far, each casino operator is proposing a project with a total investment of $800 million to $900 million or more. Such projects are far larger than the $500 million minimum investment called for in state law.

“It is with great excitement that we kick-off the casino selection process,” Sarno said. “This much anticipated economic development project will be the largest in the city’s history and means thousands of good paying jobs for our residents, significant opportunities for our business community and sustainable economic benefits for our great city.”

The city is in the “enviable position of having outstanding, multiple casino companies interested in locating within the city,” Sarno said.

Sarno met Monday with representatives of the following companies: MGM Resorts, proposing a three-block casino complex in the South End, bordered by State and Union streets on the west side of Main Street; Penn National, proposing a casino in the North End at a site that would include The Republican’s newspaper building, Peter Pan Bus Lines headquarters and nearby properties; Ameristar, planning a casino at the former 41-acre Westinghouse property in East Springfield; and Hard Rock International, proposing a casino at a downtown location that has not yet been publicly revealed.

The first phase of the competitive selection process will begin Sept. 5, with a formal request for proposals, and will serve to pre-qualify companies based on “the overall financial stability of the proposers, their experience and general project concept,” according to a prepared summary.

The second phase will be far more in depth, requiring much more specific information regarding each company, their proposed projects, and the expected economic benefits to the city, region and state, officials said.

Additional developers could emerge during the first phase, city officials said.

Sarno said that following the two-phase selection process, expected to conclude by mid-December, he would negotiate and execute “home community agreements” with one or more casino companies. Any agreement would then need approval from the City Council and would be forwarded for a vote by residents at a special election anticipated in the spring.

Sarno said he has instructed city departments and the city’s consultants to conduct “an open, fair and robust competitive process that will allow us to choose the project or projects that are best to meet the city’s selection criteria.” There will also be updates provided regularly on the city’s website.

Hard Rock was the only company not to specify the site for its casino, except to say it would be in the downtown, city officials said, regarding the closed meeting. Hard Rock representatives also chose not to meet with the media waiting outside Sarno’s office, leaving by a different exit.

Anthony Cignoli, a local partner, in Hard Rock, said in a telephone interview Monday night that the company is not yet ready to release specifics.

Cezar M. Froelich, chairman of Shefsky & Froelich of Chicago, the city’s hired casino consultant, said the roughly eight-month process to select a casino or casinos is designed to “get everybody’s input and buy-in” including the City Council, tourism and business officials, residents and others.

The process is similar to the process in many other communities and states that have dealt with casino agreements including Michigan and Louisiana, Froelich said. The process also follows the state law, permitting casinos in Massachusetts, he said.

Kevin E. Kennedy, the city’s chief development officer, said the process is just beginning, and asked that people not jump to any conclusions. While the mayor and some top advisors feel a single proposal is probably best to forward for voters to consider.

It is not yet finalized how the city would create guidelines for a ballot if it contained more than one proposa, officials said.

Casinos have been proposed elsewhere in Western Massachusetts, including a proposal by Mohegan Sun to locate a casino in Palmer off the Massachusetts Turnpike.

James J. Murren, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Resorts, said his first meeting with Sarno and his top advisors to tout his company’s vision and enthusiasm for locating a casino in the South End, and its intent on benefiting other downtown venues such as the MassMutual Center, Symphony Hall, local restaurants and hotels.

The MGM proposal offers “tremendous urban renewal” in the South End area in the aftermath of significant damage from the tornado of June 1, 2011, Murren said.

Penn National representative Eric Schippers, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said the company’s proposal in the North End will have “significant ripple effects and a positive impact,” in the city.

“It (the casino) is not an island unto itself. It is how to best benefit the city,” Schippers said.

Ameristar’s proposal is the only one that is not Downtown so all its competitors are highlighting their ability to bring business to the beleaguered city center.

He described their proposed casino as “first and foremost, the most transformative benefit touching other areas of the community.”

The company also has a strong financial ability to build a casino, Schippers said.

Both Murren and Schippers said their respective companies have the financial wherewithal to immediately fund construction.

Troy A. Stremming , a senior vice president for Ameristar, countered Monday by saying his project is the only one with a physical footprint and proposed gambling floor large enough to properly serve the market and generate enough jobs and revenue . He said Ameristar , with it’s $50 million plan to build access ramps from Interstate 291, is the only bidder to address traffic concerns in a detailed way.